Buckle



BUCKLE Filed May 22, 1947 INVENTOR CYRUS Lama/mm ATTORNEY Patented June 14; 1949 UNITED i-S'FATES orries :itiBUCKIJE:

' Cyrus Lombardl;-Brooklyn, NY. Application May 22, 194%, Sefiial- ND.'749,633

. .5-Glaims. 1

This "invention relates to. buckles, and particularly to slide or-take-up buckles for lingeriestraps and the like.

The common buckles used-for adjusting the straps of slips,v brassires; and othertypes 1 of lingerie comprises a series of crossbars connected by a pair of end-bars.v The crossbar which is normally uppermost in-.usehas a central portion cut away to receive. the longer send ofrthe main strap, and the. lowermost crossbar commonly serves as the bearing-bar 'for the shorter strap which is commonly attached to the front. of the article of lingerie. This, type. of) buckle is eminently satisfactory in a number otrespects, but great diificultyis experienced, .particularly after some use, in the shorter or'lowerstrap wor ing to the right. (or'theleft) 'andthe-main' or upper strap working to the left (or thesright r so that the buckle worksinto a diagonal-aposition, with the straps gatherediin the'corners. of the buckle instead of fittingfreelycentrally thereof. This results not only in undesirable binding action which afiects the ease of manipulation and the wearing-qualities of thestrap, but also makes it much easier for the. upper strap,.which is: now gathered entirely to one side oftha cut in-the upper bar, to slip out thruthis cut and=come loose altogether.

Various proposals have been made toavoidthis difficulty. Among these are. the formation of=the 1 upper edge of the lower' bar Withsaw-teeth' or other protuberances to prevent the shifting of the lower strap. Thishasthe obvious-disadvantage of a tendency to tear the lower strap or quickly wear it. out. Another is the curving of the-' lower bar downwardly so.that,xin.ieifect; it is a. curved continuation of the two end bars. This, however, tends to encouragethe lower strap toislide. to. the right or left andwhen" in-this position tordraw the buckle into a"diagonatposition:withthe:dis-

advantages 'mentionedzaboves :These id'rfiiculties are involved even intan arrangement wherein the curve is bent inwardlyandztupwardlyt rsomewhat at two points each spaced-about:oneethird of; the

distance from the end of thetcurvexAnother proposal is toappend to the lower bar a circulan tab with a central hole or eyelet thrui'which thexiower strap is threaded. This is sometimes satisfactory when the lower strap isnarrowerthan therupper strap, but it is undesirable from' both the'standpoints of strengthand esthetic appeal; H's. wide strap is used there are difii'c'ultiesairi threading, and also in flexibility in actionsince there isno possibility ofany portion oftheastrap extending upwardly even under-unusual stresses.

With-theforegoing and other considerations in .view. or? the. present invention contemplates the provision oflower-strap-receiving means which combines the-advantages of the modifications of the lower: bar mentioned above but eliminates the disadvantages. In accordance with the invention the. lower bar is centrally split; and there extends downwardly and outwardly therefrom a curved bar-:which, provides an opening which iswider than the break in thelower bar but narrower thanrthe'channelabove the bar. The opening is ponnectedlwith the channel by the break sothat the .strapxxmay. be slid between the two. :The opening, in Whichzthe lower strap may-:be normally retainediand its. pull centered, .may be in the shape-of a' broken. ellipse, a broken .circle, or other. suitable-curved shape. The width of .the opening should be 'not substantially more: than two-thirds the distance between the side barsnor substantially less than one-third this distance. It isdesirablytwice as wide as the distancebetween the-inner ends of the split lower bar. It should also be centered.

Another difliculty that has been present in lingerie take-up buckles is that the. upper strap tendsto'work loose when subjected to a continuous pulling action. In order to avoidthis it hasbeen proposed to deform-one or more of the crossbars to extend downwardly the ends of the split upper bar, and to make other modifications. Thesehave; however, all had one or more drawbacks such, for example, as binding action so greatasto interfere with easy adjustmentzand tendencies to-tear and undue wear. ln accordancewith the present invention in certain ofits more specific-aspects there are provided outw-ardly and/or inwardly extending nubs which' tend' to prevent theupper strap from slip- =pingloose without the objectionable characteristics just noted.

The inven-tion'accordingly comprisesan article of-manufacture possessing the features; properties; and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and-the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects' ofthe invention, reference should be had toE the-" following detailed: description taken in connectionwith the'accompanying drawings, in which Figure -1 is a 'front view of one form of buckle embodying the invention Fig. 2 is asimllarview-showing thebufckle in use;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of a modified form;

Fig. 4 is a front view of another modification;

Fig. 5 is a front view of still another modification;

Fig. 6 is a front view showing a modified form of centering retainer opening; and

Fig. '7 is a similar view of an additional cation.

The buckle exemplified in Fig. 1 comprises crossbars l, 2, 3, and t and side bars 5 and 6. The upper bar 1, below which is a channel I, is split into portions la and lb to provide therebetween a central slot 8, and the lower bar 4 is split into portions 4a and 4b to provide therebetween a central slot l leading to an opening H formed by a curved bar 12 which connects the inner ends 40 and 4d of the lower bar. As will be seen the ends I20 and l2cl of the lower bar l2 extend outwardly and downwardly from the ends 40 and 4d of the bar 4, and the bar l2 curves around to provide a lower portion which permits free lateral sliding of a strap in the opening 1 l, with increasing resistance as the strap mounts the sides of the bar 12, and major resistance as it apmodifiproaches the portions He and [2d and ie and Ad. This resistance, however, ceases when thru some unusual condition the pull approaches a right angle and in this situation the lower strap may slip thru the slot iii into the channel l between the bars 3 and Q.

As will be seen from Fig. 2 the upper strap 15 is threaded under the bar I, over the bars 2 and 3, beneath and behind the bar 3, in front of the bar 2, and again behind the split bar l. The strip 15 is readily removable therefrom for adjustment by being slipped thru the channel '1. The lower strap is threaded into channel Hi between the bars 3 and whence it can be easily crowded to one side so as to slide thru the slot (0 and into the opening H in which it is held centered by the curved bar 12. Because of this centering action there is no tendency for the buckle to be drawn into a diagonal position in which the upper strap can slide to the right or the left end of the channel '1 between the bars I and 2. At the same time the lower strap will be prevented from sliding up into the channel M by the ends ie and id, and can only slide thru the slot 18 when it is desired to unthread it or when it is subjected to such unusual pull that strains will be relieved rather than increased by such action.

In order to hold the upper strap against slipping, but without undue binding or tearing action, there are desirably provided, as exemplified in Fig. 3, rounded nubs 2i and 22 protruding rearwardly from the inner surface of the porportions id and le of the upper split bar lc. These nubs desirably and as shown are provided at the inner ends of the split bar lo. An additional variation also exemplified in this figure is an increase in the vertical cross-sectional extent of the split bar fie, and the decrease in the width of the slot l le.

There are also desirably provided one or more rounded nubs on the front surface of that bar which is just below the split upper bar. As shown in Fig. 4 two such nubs 23 and 24 are provided on the crossbar 2f. In this exemplification the width of the slot if is similar to that of the slot Mic, but the vertical cross-sectional extent of the split bar t is as shown in Fig. 1.

Preferably nubs are provided on both of the two uppermost bars as shown in Fig. 5. Nubs Mg and 22g extend rearwardly from the split- 4 upper bar lg and nubs 23g and 24g extend forwardly from the bar 29. These nubs are smoothsurfaced and desirably have a greater lateral extent than protruding extent.

It is not essential that the bar providing the opening for the centering of the lower strap be curved inwardly at its upper ends. It can in some instances extend directly downwardly or even inwardly and downwardly provided it is attached to the lower bar at points outwardly of the inner ends of the lower bar. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 6, wherein the portions I27 and [2k extend downwardly and slightly inwardly from points 4 and Ma which are spaced outwardly of the inner ends of the split lower bar 4h.

The form shown in Fig. 7 has a somewhat differently-shaped strap-centering means. In this arrangement, the portions H111. and Mn extend straight downwardly from points intermediate the outer and inner ends of the barportions 4m and 4m, and are joined by a straight base bar 25 to enclose (except for the opening lllq) the space llq.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scop thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A buckle construction for joining upper and lower straps and comprising a pair of side bars and a series of spaced tranverse bars, a transverse bar at at least one end being divided to provide a generally central slot which opens in a direction generally parallel with the side bars and which has a substantially permanent nonexpansible width, and enclosure means extending outwardly from the portion of said last-mentioned bar at points spaced from said slot and spaced from said side bars and converging to provide an opening which spreads out laterally from said slot along the parts of said last-mentioned bar which lie at each side of said slot, said opening having a maximum extent of at least twice the width of said slot in a direction parallel to said width and not substantially more than two-thirds nor less than one-third the distance between the side bars at said slot in said direction and having a greater extent in said direction than in a direction perpendicular to said direction.

2. A buckle as set forth in claim 1 wherein the enclosure means diverges from said slot in smooth curves.

3. A buckle as set forth in claim 1 wherein the enclosure means extends outwardly at a sharp angl from said last-mentioned bar.

4. A buckle construction for joining upper and lower straps and comprising a pair of side bars and a series of spaced transverse bars, the transvers bars at the ends of said series being centrally divided to provide slots which open in a direction generally parallel with th side bars and which have a substantially permanent nonexpansible width, and enclosure means extending outwardly from the portion of one of said lastmentioned bars at points spaced from one of said slots and spaced from said side bars and converging to provide an opening which spreads out laterally from said one of said slots along the parts of said one of said last-mentioned bars which lie at each side of said one of said slots,

said opening having a maximum extent of at least twice the width of said one of said slots in a direction parallel to said width, but less than the distance between the side bars, and nubs on the other of said end bars at each side of its slot.

5. A buckle construction for joining upper and lower straps and comprising a pair of side bars and a series of spaced transverse bars, the transverse bars at the ends of said series being centrally divided to provide slots which open in a direction generally parallel with the side bars and which have a substantially permanent nonexpansibl width, and enclosure means extending outwardly from the portion of one of said lastmentioned bars at points spaced from one of said slots and spaced from said side bars and converging to provide an opening which spreads out laterally from said one of said slots along the parts of said one of said last-mentioned bars which lie at each side of said one of said slots,

said opening having a maximum extent of at 20 least twice the width of said one of said slots in REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 875,102 Peterson Dec. 31, 1907 1,500,439 Clark July 8, 1924 1,626,305 Stephenson Apr. 26, 1927 1,822,357 Mendosa Sept. 8, 1931 1,908,209 Adams May 9, 1933 1,984,856 Anderson Dec. 18, 1934 1,993,691 Summers Mar. 5, 1935 1,999,166 Erb Apr. 25, 1935 

